COVID-19 Pandemic and Reimagination of Multilateralism through Global Health Diplomacy

Nippun Gupta, Bawa Singh, Jaspal Kaur, Sandeep Singh and Vijay Kumar Chattu
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Nippun Gupta: Department of South and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 151401, India
Bawa Singh: Department of South and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 151401, India
Jaspal Kaur: Department of Sociology, Khalsa College, Putligarh, Amritsar 143002, India
Sandeep Singh: Department of South and Central Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 151401, India
Vijay Kumar Chattu: Division of Occupational Medicine, Department of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 2C4, Canada

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 20, 1-12

Abstract: The ongoing pandemic COVID-19 has made it very clear that no one is safe until everyone is safe. But how can everyone be safe when the pandemic has broken every nerve of the economy and put an extra burden on the already crippled healthcare systems in low-income countries? Thus, the pandemic has changed the orientation of domestic as well as global politics, with many geopolitical shifts. The exponential growing infected cases and more than four million deaths has demanded a global response in terms of multilateralism. However, declining multilateralism and the need for its reforms was a much-delayed response. Given this context, this paper aimed to link the decline of multilateralism in the face of the pandemic by highlighting various instances of its failure and success; and highlighting the need for its revival. The article critically examines and evaluates the responses of multilateralism and global health diplomacy (GHD) during the pandemic. The ongoing black swan kind of event (an unexpected event) has obligated global leadership to think in terms of the revival of multilateralism through GHD. Historically, multilateralism through GHD has been shown to play an important role in managing and combating pandemics. The article further discusses various theoretical aspects such as sovereignty and hegemonic stability theory as reasons for the failing of multilateralism. The paper concludes by emphasizing the importance of foresight in reviving multilateralism in the pursuit of a more sustainable future.

Keywords: multilateralism; sovereignty; COVID-19; pandemic; global health diplomacy; vaccine diplomacy; global health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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